Visiting the DMZ

Written by Bryn:

Visit to DMZ

We arose to the dulcet tones of a blaring alarm clock and descended, bleary eyed and in need of coffee, into the main room for breakfast only to look out the large windows and see grey skies spilling a light spray of misty droplets down on the streets of Hoi On. After a quick meal of various combinations of eggs and bread and several negotiations with the hosts about accommodating the rain into our plans, we all piled into a van that would take us to the demilitarized zone. Once about an hour of driving had passed, we pulled over and our vibrantly enthusiastic tour guide boarded the van and declared that he wanted us all to be happy that day. Armed with our guide, we then drove to one of the many military cemeteries in the area where bodies from the war that had been dug up from various locations were reburied. We trudged up a muddy hill, hair rapidly becoming slick with rain, to see the rusted remains of an American tank, half covered in the fresh green of new growth and dusted with a coating of little white flowers.

We then plodded through the reddish-brown mud into the cemetery, looking around in an awed silence, faces drawn at the sheer number of tiny graves laid out in neat rows that segmented the solemn space. The graves were much too small to hold a human body, even taking into account the slightly smaller stature of the Vietnamese, and we learned that this was due to only a few of the body parts of the soldiers being present. We silently walked down row after row of chipped tombstones declaring the bodies within to be heroes of war and martyrs, each grave also accompanied by small clusters of incense and little collections of colored pebbles. In the back corner of this plot of graves, was a section that seemed even more solemnly silent than the rest of the cemetery: a section filled with the poor nameless and faceless people who could not be identified, who, in a culture where paying respects to deceased relatives is vital, were visited only by strangers who prayed to them in the vain hope that perhaps they are connected. Some people who had lost loved ones in the war were so desperate to be able to pay their respects that they paid fortune tellers to figure out which unidentified body parts belonged to their missing relative. These graves were marked with updated black plaques, and were worshipped by strangers desperate to feel they had found family.

Feeling thoroughly soaked and with a greater dislike of war, we loaded up the van again and headed out once more to stop by the war museum. We crossed a thin bridge over the river that had once divided the North and South and arrived at a small yellowish building to be confronted with a very oversized, stone megaphone. This megaphone was used during the war to shout insults to the other side and its gray surface was coated with a dappling of bullet holes which we learned were caused by the other side not liking what they heard. We then slowly meandered around the one-roomed war museum whose walls were coated with pictures from the war and sculptures of very fierce looking Vietnamese soldiers clutching intimidating rifles. Once we had taken in all of the artifacts and replicas, we got back into the van and drove out to the location of some of the entrances to the large network of tunnels the Vietnamese lived in for as long as 6 years during the war.

The rain had died down some by the time we made it to the entrance to the tunnels so we went down into the dark opening into the ground semi-dry. The tunnels were low enough that even the shortest in our group had to stoop for most of the walk and came in three different levels: 12 feet down, 15 feet down, and 23 feet down. The highest level was used for storage since it wasn’t low enough to be safe for people during battle. The second level was where most of the people lived and included the maternity room, the infirmary, and the one washroom that the hundreds of people all shared. The third level was too wet and didn’t have access to enough air for that many people to sleep in, so it too was used for storage with the addition of having several wells where the tunnels’ occupants got their water for most of the year. We walked along all three of these levels, becoming a row of hunched forms sharing a total of three flashlights to traverse the dark, rocky walkways. Once we had toured the tunnels to our hearts’ content, we filed back out into the daylight and onto the vans once more to go to lunch. We pulled over at a little restaurant picked by our tour guide and then with full bellies we headed out to visit a religious site that turned out to be filled with a plethora of cheerfully chattering Asian school children. After poking around there for a bit, we went back to the hotel, arriving later than we had expected to. Brief visits to our rooms ensued before we all exited the hotel to walk next door to our first Indian food in over a week. Cheerful pop music that had been popular around six years ago reverberated around the room as we chowed down on some much missed curry and chatted amongst ourselves before tiredly lurching up to bed to collapse.

First Day in Hué

Written by Ellen:

First Day in Hué

Our hotel sent a minivan to the train station for us. We crowded in to watch the scenes of the much calmer town of Hué. Everyone was hecka tired due to accumulated sleep deprivation and REALLY tiny beds on the sleeper train. The minivan sent was slightly too small for all 12 of us with our luggage, but we chose to crowd even though Frédéric was offered a ride on the back of a motorbike (personally I can’t see why he turned it down). Upon arrival to the Binh Minh Sunrise hotel, we hurried off to our respective showers (which was a good thing since the train didn’t have any) before rushing downstairs for a late breakfast. Then it was off to the Hué citadel, passing tantalizing swan boats on the way (for some reason Jim and Anne still haven’t let us ride them).

The citadel was gorgeous. Its’ construction was started in 1804 by Emporer Gia Long on a site chosen by his geomancers. We entered, by the gate that was once “reserved” for women, to see two of the cutest elephants in the world, which we could have ridden for like five dollars if the teachers had let us, but they didn’t which is okay since there was probably some unethical treatment of elephants going on there. The buildings themselves were absolutely stunning. Hué is a place where many past emperors lived. In the center of the citadel was the Forbidden Purple City, a place where only the emperor and his eunuchs and concubines could enter (for some reason we were let in too). During various offensives and occupations during the Vietnam War, Hué’s citadel was mostly destroyed and the various buildings that were in the process of being rebuilt contrasted sharply with the burnt walls and overgrown gardens of the areas that had yet to be redone.

Next we visited a temple where emperors went to honor their predecessors. That was also quite charming, although the pictures of child rulers were a little bit depressing. We didn’t stay for very long there because everyone was hungry, so we ate lunch before heading back to the hotel. We stayed there until dinner, writing journal entries, finishing blogs and looking over our pictures. Then we left Anne behind (she wasn’t feeling well) and went to a nice restaurant with live music. That was good except we sat near some really really really noisy Germans that would raise their voices whenever the music got even a little loud. Still good, but could have been much better.

Temple of Literature

Written by Jordan:

We started our day thinking that we would go to the Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, the stilt house that Ho Chi Minh lived in and the one pillar pagoda. Unfortunately everything but the Temple of Literature and the one pillar pagoda were closed by mid-day because it was Friday. Be sure to reread your guidebooks before starting out; it helps sometimes. We would have known about the mausoleum but not the rest.

That morning, we took two 7-person taxis to the Temple of Literature to find a many groups of small Vietnamese school children who would shout “Hello!” to us. A few would say to us “I like you, I like you. I not like you”. They seemed to enjoy being naughty. The Temple of Literature is a Confucian Temple that honors the great scholars of Vietnam. It was founded in 1070 AD by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong These Scholars are called Mandarins. There were many stone steles on the backs of turtles with the names of graduates of the temples doctorate program. Also there were amazingly ornate buildings with statues of great scholars in them. There is also a beautiful garden next to the temple.

After visiting the Temple of literature we walked over to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and found out it was closed on Fridays. We’ll visit it on our last day in Hanoi April 2^nd which is a Saturday. We did see the One Pillar Pagoda and wandering around the grounds of the Ho Chi Minh museum.

For lunch we went to a very special restaurant called KOTO (Know One Teach One). KOTO is an NGO (a Non Government Organization/Charity) that helps disadvantaged youth gain jobs skills in the restaurant industry. We didn’t have reservations so we went to a small local café for an hour while we waited for a table for 12. On the TV in our private room Aladin was playing with Vietnamese subtitles. The service at KOTO was great and the food was even better. If you ever make it to Hanoi, don’t skip this great spot to eat. We couldn’t help getting a few things from their dessert menu. It was worth the hour wait.

Filled with delicious food we went back to our hotel to organize ourselves for our overnight train ride to Hué. We went to a local supermarket to get snacks and containers for dinner. Everyone got their own special spoon. Then we went to another café where we ordered dinner and had tea while the staff packed our dinner in our containers. We got to the train after a 5 minute taxi ride from our hotel (we almost could have walked). We were in our sleeper cabins an hour before we left.

Ha Long Bay

Written by Frederic:

Ha Long Bay is an internationally recognized natural wonder and is by far the most popular tourist destination in Viet Nam. To get there involved a two and a half hour drive from where we were in Ha Noi. Once we were on the boat and in the bay, we were free to experience the calm of the bay’s still water and almost 2000 small limestone islands. What is most remarkable about the bay is the way in which it transports one to another place and state of mind. Despite the filth and garbage made plentiful by masses of tourists, and floating fishing villages that have always inhabited the bay, one feels transported in a way that fuels a drive to go farther and search deeper into the apparent infinity that surrounds; yet this feeling is coupled with the certainty that one will never reach wherever it is one is search for.

In the heart the bay inside one of its bigger islands, is an enormous cave whose beauty mirrors that of the bay around it, once inside our guide took the opportunity to finish explaining to us the meaning of Ha Long Bay. Earlier he had explained that Viet Nam means “Viet people to the south”. Just as this name epitomized the ancient Vietnamese struggle to be independent from China to the north, the name Ha Long, as he explained, would symbolize the Vietnamese struggle to be independent. Because the bay was the sight of many won battles and rivers around the bay were the sight of a successful China-Viet Nam border, the area came to constitute a successful Vietnamese front for independence. In commemoration of this symbol, the bay was named Ha Long, which means “descending dragon”, making reference what I understood to be a creation myth of a dragon descending from the heavens into the sea to form an island of land. Just as in the myth, the bay and islands within it, symbolize the formation of an independent and whole Viet Nam. Though I’m sure our guide had dispensed this information dozens of times before, it was the most emotional he got all through the trip, and it was clear that he was proud. I was happy to be able to take the bay with me in memory not only as a sight of natural beauty but as a place of great importance to a great and ancient people.

Sleepless in Hanoi

7:05 AM: written by Ethan

It was dark in the windowless hotel room as I awoke. Not sure where I was, I rolled to my side. Seeing Frederic lying comatose on the adjacent bed and smelling the tropical moist air, I realized: this must be Vietnam. I got out of bed and, half asleep, I got ready for breakfast and trudged down the staircase towards the hotel’s dining room-lobby. We were offered the choice of either a continental breakfast of eggs and bread or a bowl of pho, chicken or beef. (Written by Ethan)

After breakfast we got ready for our walking tour of Hanoi, the largest city, and the capital of Vietnam. We stepped out into the narrow street, mopeds swooping past our group. We breathed in the pungent Indochinese air, laced with the smell of tropical spices and despite the grey sky, the temperature was at least 80 degrees. Broadleaf trees hung above the alleyways, which were lined with fruit. Women marched by in conical hats carrying shoulder baskets filled with bananas.

Walking the streets in Vietnam, however, is no easy task. As we began our walking tour, approaching the lake in the middle of Hanoi, we immediately began to understand that the traffic, was, in fact, a free-for-all survival of the fastest.

We visited the temple that rested on the island in the middle of the central lake. The lake is famous due to its place in Vietnamese folklore. Legend holds, with similarities to the Excalibur legend, a Vietnamese king’s sword was given to a turtle, who now guards the lake and the people of Hanoi.

Continuing our urban walk, we passed through an open air market with both familiar and unfamiliar vegetables and meats (we will not mention one). Very tired from our walk and the long plane ride, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant that served both Vietnamese and International food. We chose to stick to the Vietnamese cuisine.

After lunch, we took a long-awaited rest period to allow our jetlagged bodies to relax. We got dinner at a lovely restaurant in a palatial building, treating ourselves to all manner of Vietnamese cuisine, and listening in on some of Jim’s continual punning.

Our first day in Hanoi was at an end. Tomorrow, we would go to Ha Long bay.

We arrived safe

We began our adventure to Vietnam at the Rockridge BART station by catching the 10:10 a.m. train to SFO. The ride was smooth and everyone was in high spirits despite knowing we had something near 24 hours of travel between us and Hanoi (Vietnam's Capital). Check in at Korean Airlines had a long line but it went quickly and we were through security and waiting at our gate with a half hour to spare. The first leg big of our transpacific trek involved a twelve hour hop to Seoul S. Korea. Our seats were comfortable and the food was better than adequate for airline meals. Many of us enjoyed Korean cuisine -- as they say "when in Rome act like the group traveling with Nina and Peter"). No one sleep much and many of us watched several films on the back of the seat in front of us we regret seeing. Nevertheless the twelve hours flew by and before we knew it we were landing in Seoul. That was the last time the distortion of time acted in our favor. On the runway in Seoul, as we looked out the windows, several Maybeck students thought to themselves: "I didn't pack clothes for this -- why did I listen to my teachers?" Seoul was being gentle sprinkled with a soft blanket of snow as our captain informed us that it was zero degrees Celsius outside. Jim tried to reassure the doubting students by saying Seoul to Hanoi is like Seattle to Baja. These tired young students from the other side of the Pacific rim were still cautious in their hope for warmer climes. At the Seoul airport we were directed to many long lines and eventually got to a remote transfer security check where we kept our shoes on and didn't need to empty our water bottles. After boarding our next flight to Hanoi, we were excited that we only had four hours left in the air before we reached Hanoi. We were due to touch down at 10 p.m. Monday evening in Hanoi (that's 7 a.m. Monday back in Berkeley). The Captain announced something in Korean and the Korean speakers around us moaned. We knew something was up and we waited an eternity of two minute to hear what he had to say in English. "Attention passengers due to delays in air traffic caused by the weather we will not be taking off for another hour". What was promised as an hour turned out to be two and one half. More exhausted than we ever thought we would be, we were on the last leg of our journey. Deprived the luxury of the transpacific entertainment center on the seat in front of us, our fitful sleep was disturbed by glimpses of some strange teen werewolf saga program produced in New Zealand. When we landed in Hanoi we were tired but not too tired to feel restored hope that it might be soon that we could once again sleep in a bed. It was only a hour long van ride through the thick pungent 73 degree air to the Hanoi Golden Plaza Hotel and those slightly lumpy mattresses were golden indeed!

We have not yet introduced all the cameras to the laptop computer so we're a little behind on uploading photos to this blog. The one's above are from our dinner on Tuesday March 23, 2010.